Inspirational Ambition

23 January 2013 04:32

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Managers will use any tactic they can to get their players up for a game. Surely no need when a place in a cup final is at stake.

Terry Butcher has dusted off the 'we can make history together' speech ahead of his Inverness side meeting Hearts on Saturday in the semi-final of the Scottish League Cup at Easter Road. Inverness have had a good season so far, currently sitting in second place in the SPL behind Celtic. A win on Saturday would take Butcher back to Hampden where he has experience as a player and manager. Butcher - who is hoping to reach his second Hampden decider as a manager after taking Motherwell to the final of the same tournament back in 2005 - believes his side can attain immortality among the Caley fans if they can deal with John McGlynn's Hearts side. Butcher has enjoyed his fourth year in charge of Caley after taking over for a second stint, and said: "We're all very excited. It's another SPL team on an SPL ground and we all know what is at stake. It's been a long wait for this game but now that it is here, it is mouth-watering. We can't wait. We've been to a few semi-finals with Motherwell but never before with Caley Thistle. We are creating history right now but we want to create even more by getting to our first ever final. Winning the First Division a few years ago was an incredible achievement but, without a doubt, getting the team in to the League Cup final would be the biggest achievement of my time here. The promotion season was massive and we have created a lot of firsts here. Now we want to continue doing that." Inverness need only look to Highland neighbours Ross County for inspiration to reach a Hampden cup final. County stunned Neil Lennon's Celtic in 2010 to reach the Scottish Cup final before they lost out on the silverware when Dundee United won the trophy with a 3-0 win. He said: "When Ross County beat Celtic, we were at Queen of the South that day and watched the early kick-off before our game. We beat Queens that day and that went a long way to us gaining promotion but when you see semi-finals, you always ask yourself 'what would you do in that situation?' Now we have the opportunity to do just that and make sure we get to the final."